NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Cathy Leiber
www.JudithsReadingRoom.org
Judith’s Reading Room announces its 107th Library
Graphic Novels Will Enrich Lives of “Care-Experienced” Youth in Scotland
April 2, 2024 — Judith’s Reading Room announced today that it will dedicate its 107th library in its 24th country in collaboration with Heavy Sound, Cockenzie, East Lothian, in the eastern central Lowlands of Scotland on August 10, 2024.
Judith’s Reading Room, a 501 (c) 3 literacy organization founded in 2010 in the memory of Judith F. Krug, a distinguished librarian and cousin to the founders, reached out to The Scottish Book Trust, Edinburgh, Scotland, to help identify a school or organization that would benefit from a library. It’s CEO, Marc Lambert, informed that “ If you are able to support Heavy Sound with books, you’ll be sure to be directing your charitable activities to those children who really need it most.”
Heavy Sound serves the most vulnerable, at risk and hardest to reach young people in Scotland, most of whom have poor/no literacy. The nonprofit organization recognizes the barriers this causes throughout their lives, and therefore aims to inspire and support them to become readers and writers. “We are absolutely thrilled that Judith’s Reading Room is supporting Heavy Sound by providing books that will enrich the lives of the people we support, said Linda Bendle, CEO Heavy Sound.
Working with The Scottish Book Trust and Heavy Sound, Judith’s Reading Room decided to focus on graphic novels — a genre shown in academic research* to be a positive literacy ‘stepping stone’ to help reluctant readers in their discovery of the joy of reading. According to the American Library Association, to get teenage reluctant readers reading, ‘we need to find the elusive reading material that provides interest.’
________________________
*”Teenage Reluctant Readers,” Young Adult Library Services, American Library Association, Summer 2005. Courtesy Ana Luhrs, Librarian, Lafayette College, Easton, PA
A comprehensive list of graphic novels, provided by The Scottish Book Trust, will guide Judith’s Reading Room in its purchases to create the graphic novel library at Heavy Sound, serving youth ages 12-15.
Judith’s Reading Room
The mission of Judith’s Reading Room is to ‘enrich lives and societies by proactively encouraging freedom through literacy.’ It has fulfilled that mission by establishing 106 libraries (& counting!) in 23 countries with over 133,000 books donated worth $1.4 million. Its signature event, ‘The Freedom Through Literacy Award,’ annually recognizes and honors champions of literacy from all disciplines — teachers, authors, educators, researchers, nonprofit literacy organizations — from around the world. To date, over $58,000 has been awarded to 71 champions of literacy from 18 countries.
##END##
